U.S. freight-rail traffic inches up 1.6% in Week 8

U.S. freight railroads hauled 516,729 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Feb. 28, up 1.6% compared with traffic in the same week in 2025, according to Association of American Railroads data.

Carloads totaled 238,131, up 6.9%, while weekly intermodal volume totaled 278,598 containers and trailers, down 2.5%.

Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups tracked weekly by the AAR posted increases. They included grain, up 20% to 25,210 carloads; coal, up 6.4% to 63,950; and chemicals, up 8.6% to 36,642. The groups that logged carload decreases were forest products, down 5.1% to 7,905; and miscellaneous, down 3.4% to 8,599.

Canadian railroads reported 93,668 carloads for the week, up 2.5%, and 74,256 intermodal units, up 11.3%. Mexican railroads posted 13,607 carloads, down 22.5%, and 13,557 intermodal units, down 4.5%.

For the first eight weeks of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025:

• U.S. railroads posted 3,953,605 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8%;
• Canadian railroads reported 1,274,116 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.5%; and
• Mexican railroads logged 214,458 carloads and intermodal units, up 17%.